Beside The Tide
by flowinthestream12
Summary: We all know how the relationship between Klaus & Tatia ended. This is my beginning & middle. Niklaus saw her for the first time on the shores of his father's settlement. She & her infant son, Todor, had sailed across the Atlantic sea. There are many obstacles standing in the way of their love. But, she has already stolen Klaus's heart & it's still hers after all these centuries.
1. First Sight

Niklaus's silver eyes were out of focus, directed at the shore growing shorter and shorter as the sun started to disappear behind the horizon. It was nearly the end of another day of pure agony, chopping down trees to expand his father's settlement. Niklaus was handsome and taller than his father whom he never saw eye-to-eye even when he tried to reconcile. He had a strong brow bone, protruding cheek bones, and a strong jaw line with a dent in his chin. His skin was usually pale but now that his brothers, his father, and he had chopped down so many trees the sun was now burning his skin.

He untied his thick, shoulder-length, wavy, dark blonde hair and let it curtain his face. It had lightened as he worked beneath the merciless sun. He had resolved to sit on the shore till his father sent Elijah looking for him. He didn't blink till he heard the cry of a child. Niklaus heaved himself to his feet and shaded his eyes, scanning the dark beach for the source of the sound.

Perhaps one of the children from his new home had strayed away. His heart stopped when he spotted a young woman dragging a small boat onto the shore. Once it was securely in the muddy bank, she ran around to the side of it and reached in to pull out something wrapped in a heavy and very filthy sack. The girl unwrapped it and knelt behind the boat. Niklaus took the moment to run into the forest to hide behind a thick batch of palm leaves. He grinned when he saw a little boy run out from behind the boat and the girl followed his shaky strides.

It was the baby Niklaus had heard. He smiled as he watched the young woman chase him. Niklaus couldn't tear his eyes from this beauty. She had her immense amount of dark curly hair in a thick braid that barely went past the middle of her back. Her skin was tan but not as dark as the witch, Ayana.

It was almost as dark as the sand of the shore her boat settled into. When she turned her eyes in his direction, big and dark with long black lashes so like a doe, he was stunned. Her bosom swayed and bounced as she trotted after the small boy, unrestrained beneath her maroon dress which was damp along the hem from splashing in the shore. She did not seem happy. There was terror in those innocent eyes.

He saw her trembling burgundy lips move after she finally caught the little boy, probably her brother. Niklaus strained his ears to hear what she was telling him. He could be not much older than a year.

He heard her say to the baby, "_Тодор, сина ми. Моля, почивка. Вие сте гладни?_"

She couldn't speak the common tongue. Niklaus had only heard similar words spoken by Ayana. It was sounded very pretty and he guessed was Slavic. The sun was now behind the tall trees and he bent lower behind the palm leaves in case his eyes reflected in the rising, almost-full, moon's light. He gasped when she scooped the little boy up onto her wide hips and disappeared into the forest banking the shore.

"No," he hissed quietly to himself, "Come back! Don't go in there!"

He leapt to his feet and silently searched for her through the leaf strewn forest. He heard the little boy cough and he froze where he stood behind a fallen tree trunk. He was in the area that his father was clearing to expand their settlement. They had been chopping down trees for two weeks straight. The woman and her baby were hiding behind one of them.

Niklaus's ears strained for any more sounds of life. He heard the young woman shush the little boy and he ducked behind a dense bush. He had forgotten how much his body had been aching all day. He peered through a few of the little branches. There she was, lying on her side on the ground, her back against the bark of the tree. She had untied the strings holding her dress together alone her spine and her breasts, swollen with milk, were fully exposed.

Niklaus frowned and gaped when he saw why. The little boy was nursing from her right nipple. His head was laying on her forearm supporting her. Her breast were drooped in the direction of her slanted shoulders. She was humming a tune to her son. Niklaus should have known someone as beautiful as her would have been married off to a man by now. It was silly of him to wish she was unclaimed. His cheeks flushed when he picked up her voice among the chirping grasshoppers.

" _Отидете на заспиване, Тодор-момче. Майка обича да толкова. La-la-la-la-la-la_," She lifted her baby boy up and rested on her back, laying her son on her belly and directing him to her left breast. "_Отидете на заспиване, Тодор-момче. Майка винаги ще ви хареса." _

The striking doe's fawn shut his green eyes, certainly the eyes of his father. But, he continued to suckle for so long that his mother grew drowsy. After nearly an hour of watching this natural act, Niklaus shook himself back to reality. He needed to return home. But, he couldn't leave his doe here to be found and taken by someone else.

She was at risk of being raped and her son would surely be killed if they were uncovered. The young woman with beautiful dark curly hair gently lifted her son up in the air, careful not to wake him, and turned over in the dirt onto her belly. She laid her sleeping son in front of her and tried to re-cover her drooping breasts without needing to tie the strings on her back. Now that he was closer, Niklaus noticed something he couldn't believe he hadn't seen before. The back of her dress from the top of her legs to her tiny ankles was blackened with dried blood.

It was as though she had never changed into a different dress after giving birth to her son. Perhaps she couldn't. Niklaus had heard a woman in labor before. He was the oldest of his siblings. He couldn't imagine how much more difficult it would be for one to deliver out at sea.

He shuddered at the idea. Her bare feet were also stained. She winced, letting out a tiny whimper, and Klaus knew she was in a lot of pain. She had been good at hiding it. She scooted forward till her chest was looming over her son and fenced him in with her long arms.

She gently cupped the back of her baby's head so that he wouldn't have to lay entirely on the ground. Niklaus smiled. She was a good and devoted mother. Every man would be lucky to possess a woman like her. Then, he began wondering where her husband was. Why would he leave such a beautiful wife alone to raise his son?

Had she come to this land alone? Niklaus reminded himself again that he needed to leave her. But, he instantly felt his primal protective instincts nail him to the ground. His deep-set eyes widened beneath his heavy brow bone. He could not be moved even if he was struck with a sword.

Then, it dawned on him that his brother, Elijah, must be out looking for him by now. It was long past sunset. His presence could bring danger to the poor young mother and her baby.

Niklaus gulped and whispered, "I'll return for you."


	2. Another Witness

Klaus scooted the threaded basket closer to him to make it easier to pile apples and potatoes into it. It was a small basket that his sister, Rebekah, had woven herself. Klaus hoped she wouldn't notice it missing, at least until he brought it back. He filled the basket to the rim and covered it in a fox skin. He heard his sister approaching her quarters where he lied crouched by her sack of food.

She was laughing raucously with a few girl friends. She always drew attention to herself. She basked in it. But, she wasn't a magnet for it unless she did something loud. Klaus rolled his eyes and scooped up the now-heavy basket into his arms and climbed out his sister's secret tunnel beneath one of the walls of her room.

The desperately-lonely girl had him dig it for her so that she could sneak out to entertain her friends at the nearby river at night. Klaus suspected that her friends weren't only girls and that caused protective anger and revulsion to bubble up in his throat whenever he thought of it. Niklaus pushed the toppling basket and squeezed himself beneath the wall, wincing when it's jagged edges scratched his spine. He was much larger than his sister and regretted not digging deeper.

Niklaus staggered to his feet with the unbalanced basket held tightly to his chest so that none of the food would topple out. The sun was rising again. The sky was painted a beautiful mixture of pink, orange, and dark blue. He had not slept the whole night and his reddened silver eyes showed it. He could not stop thinking about the beautiful girl he had seen the evening before.

His plan was to return to the chopping area where he had last seen her and offer the food to her. She was a nursing mother and Niklaus knew, having learned early in his life while watching his mother carry his siblings in her womb, that this girl on the cusp of womanhood was still eating for two. He ignored his head as it gave another tired throb. If he returned in time before his father, Mikael, would awake, he could possibly steal a few moments of rest. His worry for the mother and child would not allow him to sleep this past night.

He had covered her tracks before returning home with a fallen branch so that she could not be followed. Niklaus had intended to hide her boat but it had disappeared with the stretching tide before he had returned to the shore for it. He carefully made his way back to the fallen tree clearing, watching to avoid sharp rocks and brittle twigs. His father had the ears of a wolf. Niklaus suspected that Mikael's hearing was more advanced than even the local werewolves.

Regardless, his father always seemed to know when Niklaus was doing something he shouldn't. Niklaus kept himself hidden in the dense undergrowth surrounding the clearing while searching for the trunk that he had seen her resting against with her infant. He hated how different all the chopped trees looked in the morning light. He wished he had paid more attention to her surroundings than admiring her beauty. That would make it easier to find it again.

"Cry again!" he whispered, begging of the girl's infant son.

Other than the birds singing their praises to the rising sun and the frogs croaking, he could not hear any signs of life. His heart began to beat faster, worrying that maybe they had died in the night. She had seemed very weak and her son could not survive without her breast milk. He adjusted the basket in his arms and froze at the crackling noise he made. It sounded so loud to him.

But, maybe it was only because his senses were ignited. He sighed, hoping that she had not heard him. If he were her, he would definitely take his son and run away to somewhere quiet. He could already sense that she was intelligent enough to not take any chances. He hoped she would accept his help.

Niklaus glanced over his shoulder where he had frozen and saw a dent in the dirt by a trunk. He saw the bush he had hidden behind and knew he had found the right tree. But, the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"_No!"_ Niklaus groaned under his breath.

Niklaus spun around when he heard footsteps approaching him. A potato managed its way out from under the fox skin covering the basket and fell to the forest floor with a dull _thump_. His heart beat strengthened when he saw who was following him.

"Niklaus," drawled Mikael. "I always knew you were selfish. But, this?"

He pointed at the potato at Niklaus's foot with his free hand while tightening his ornate belt around the waistband of his pants with the other. His father was not wearing a shirt.

"I didn't know we were resuming so early," Niklaus said quietly, not meeting his father's eyes.

He held his breath as his father reached underneath the fox skin and pulled out a red apple, "You are no good to me if you indulge in your gluttony. Return all this to your sister immediately." Niklaus glanced one more time at the place where he had last seen his beautiful doe and winced when his father roared, "NOW!"

Niklaus gave his father a rather wide birth when passing him with his silver eyes on the ground, his long blond hair hiding his fright. He wanted to be with his brother, Elijah. Of all his siblings, he was closer to him. Rebekah was a close second.

Niklaus paused and asked over his shoulder, "Where is Elijah?"

Mikael scoffed, "By the river. Unlike you, he thinks of others before himself. He is _noble_. He is fetching the men water." He watched Niklaus sulk away and spotted a blood stain in the white fabric on his son's lower back, took a bite out of the apple, and sneered, "How could I have fathered such a weak boy?"

* * *

A tall and muscle-bound man with long dark hair knelt on the bank of a calm river, setting a jug of hardened clay by his feet. Elijah's hair was tied back in a tail that reached the base of his shoulder blades. He was told not to cover his chest by his father for they would be working many hours again beneath the sun. He had nearly fainted in the heat one day because he had gone against his father's advice. His dark eyes were drooping with exhaustion. He was still irritated with Niklaus for making him search for him yet again.

He had not slept very well the night before. When Elijah returned without Niklaus that night, his father had told him not to worry. _If Niklaus felt strong enough to explore the woods alone, he could find his way back alone_. Elijah didn't agree and he spent a while awake worrying about Niklaus. When Niklaus snuck into their shared quarters at nearly the middle of the night, he turned his back on his brother's apologetic smile.

Elijah cupped his large hands in the icy water and splashed his face three times. He staggered to his feet and rubbed his eyes on his hairy forearm. He frowned and peaked over his arm. He had heard something strange. There were no longer any children at the settlement.

They were all grown adults now besides his brother, Henrik, who doesn't cry like that anymore. He peered around the other side of the river and felt himself freeze. There was a woman, frozen, like a frightened doe, in the act of bathing herself from her wide hips down to her feet. Her maroon dress was loose around her large bosom. The girl was bent over and he could see down her neckline.

She had an immense amount of dark curly hair draped down her back, blackened with dripping water. Her large dark eyes and raspberry lips kept most of his attention on her striking face. Elijah took one step forward and she straightened upright immediately, dropping the hem of her dress that she had bunched up around her waist down to her glistening feet. He heard the infant cough again from somewhere nearby the girl. He could not see the child and she was smart enough not to look in the direction of the sound.

Judging by her swollen breasts and wide hips, Elijah guessed that the hidden infant was this girl's child. That was confirmed by the protective aggression he could see boiling behind those beautiful raven eyes. He took another step forward and she turned her back on him, disappearing into the forest on the other side of the river. He noticed the blood along her backside and made to take another step but slid in the sludgy bank down to his back, knocking over the clay jug in the process.

Elijah pushed himself up and reached his hand out in the direction where he had last seen her, "No! Wait ... please."


	3. Brothers

"Still refusing to speak to your best mate?" Niklaus asked as Elijah set the sloshing jug, now filled with water, by his brother's feet.

Elijah straightened back up, glared into Niklaus's silver eyes, then sighed huskily, "Niklaus, you are my brother ... and I love you. But, my eyes are too tired to watch you every second. That beast is still out there. You know it's not the werewolves I'm speaking of. What would they say if you died while under my watch?"

A large cat, larger than any wolf they have seen, had been terrorizing their settlement since they had invaded the area. It had a brown coat that darkened at the tip of its tail. It was skinny and robbed their meat storages. They had to be wary every night no matter what shape the moon had taken. Niklaus's heart sank further, wondering if the beast had taken his pretty doe and her fawn.

He glanced quickly at their father's sweating back then stared at the ground, "Be sure to inform _him_, good brother. For I know he would be the last to notice. I would not expect father to mourn."

Elijah clapped his heavy hand on Niklaus's bare shoulder and handed a leather string to him, "Father cares about you. I think his expectations are just too high." When Niklaus glared at him, Elijah added, "No man could ever fulfill them. Not even father. I won't let anything happen to you. Take heart of this promise, brother."

Niklaus gave him a small smile and tied his blond hair back with the leather string Elijah had given him. He didn't know what kind of man he'd be without Elijah to reason with him. They harmoniously bent over to pick up their axes and dragged their aching feet over to a waiting tree. After a few minutes of nothing but the blunt crunches of their axes cleaving into the strong bark, Elijah spoke up again.

"There are only nine female werewolves in the pack, am I mistaken?" Elijah asked, leaning around the wide trunk to see Niklaus.

Niklaus gasped for air, letting his heavy ax swing from one hand at his side, "You are not. Why do you ask?"

Elijah leaned against the straining trunk, "I saw a tenth while filling the jug."

Niklaus felt all the color drain from his face and his heart skip a beat. Perhaps Elijah had seen his beautiful doe that he had been convincing himself he'd never see again. He was so certain that she was dead. He swallowed deeply and tried to regain his composure. He didn't want to let his renewed hope get the better of him.

"What did she look like?" he asked as indifferently as he could pretend to be.

Elijah looked disappointed at his brother's reaction, "Her hair was long, dark, and curled. She had light brown skin. I can't stop thinking about those large eyes of a doe she had."

Niklaus nodded and swung his ax against the trunk, "Was she alone?"

Elijah swung at the tree next, "I heard an infant cry. I couldn't detect anyone else there. I was alone with her."

His brother had definitely seen Niklaus's doe. But, Elijah's last statement made Niklaus's big lips curl with jealousy. Mikael was a miserable excuse for a father to Niklaus. But, he had been right about Elijah. His brother was indeed noble and thoughtful. Was it so selfish of Niklaus to want the young woman for himself and no one else? He resolved to search the river for her at sunset, once all in the territory were asleep.


	4. The Beast

_**Quick Note: **__I recommend using the website _FreeTranslation_ for some of Tatia's dialogue._

Niklaus would not have put it passed Elijah to stay awake as long as he did after sunset. He always fell asleep before Niklaus. The sun and exertion always weakened Elijah before him. Niklaus twisted around beneath his scratchy blanket to watch Elijah for another minute or so to be certain that his brother wasn't pretending. He could not lay down any longer. The need to find the girl and her baby was mounting with each passing second.

Niklaus and Elijah did not have a convenient hole to use like Rebekah. He carefully slithered out from underneath his blanket and crept along the dirt floor to the door, thinking all the while that he should plan to dig a secret one for himself. The previous night had been the only time that Elijah actually saw Niklaus return from 'exploring'. All the nights before, he even surprised himself with how he had never woken Elijah who always slept lightly. He had only seen him return last night because Elijah had remained awake.

Niklaus slipped around the door quickly when he heard Elijah stirring. He ducked low and walked silently to the window beside the door. He peaked over the window frame and saw that Elijah was still sleeping with his back facing Niklaus's bed. He grinned at him and pulled himself upright. Niklaus chose to bypass the chopping clearing and focus on reaching the river.

He only wanted to see that she was still alive. He didn't waste as much time as he had that morning picking his way around the ground. He high-stepped across the shallow river, wincing as the icy water stabbed at his legs like blades. Niklaus staggered onto the shore, panting with his hands on his hips. He took a moment to catch his breath and spotted something in the muddy bank.

It was a set of paw prints that vanished once the earth dried. Niklaus sank down to sit on his heals to examine the marks closer. He hovered his hand over one. After years of hiding in the underground cave during the full moon, he knew exactly what the wolves' prints looked like. This print was much wider and deeper, built for climbing trees and scaling steep mountainsides.

"No ... the beast," he murmured under his breath.

His silver eyes widened and he searched the area around him. It frightened him how fresh the tracks were. They could be hours old or minutes old. Either way, Niklaus was not going to lower his defenses. The monstrous cat was still in the area.

He was forced to resume picking his way through the hazardous forest floor. This area had not been settled, not even by the werewolves. Niklaus could see why his father had chosen not to make a home on this side of the river. The ground was terribly uneven, sharp rocks and rough roots of trees protruded from the dry earth. Needles tickled his bare feet.

This was the perfect place for someone who didn't want to be found to hide. He smiled again at her demonstration of intelligence once again. He picked up a sharp rock from the needles and started slashing the trees he past so that he could find his way back to the river. It did not have a rough current so when he was about thirty to forty feet away from the bank he could no longer hear the gentle waves. He tossed his blond hair over his broad shoulders, needing his peripheral vision more than ever.

He circled around a large boulder and heard a voice, a woman's voice, scream, "_Отидете далеч, можете грозна звяр_!"

Niklaus broke into a run in the direction of where the shrill cry had erupted from, tightening his grip around the rock in his hand. His thick but soft eyebrows slanted further upward in worry when he heard the little infant start to wail in terror. Niklaus stumbled town a shallow ditch and once he scaled back to the top he felt his heart freeze. There was the girl lying limp on the needle-strewn forest floor. Her son lied naked not too far from her.

He was crying and kicking his little legs. Niklaus saw that the gorgeous young mother had four slashes through the left shoulder of her dress and blood was gushing forth. The location of the wound was not immediately fatal. Her stillness worried him more.

He hated himself for being so frozen with sadness, whispering under his breath, "No, I'm too late ..."

He was about to make his way over to the infant reaching out to him when he heard a guttural growl from behind him, freezing him again. The girl stirred and lifted her head. She blinked heavily and pressed the hand of her unwounded arm to her forehead. The beast must have knocked her to the ground and her son out of her arms. Niklaus was still twenty feet away from them. He gazed slowly over his shoulder and curled his lip aggressively over his lips at what was stalking towards them.

It was the monstrous feline, almost nine feet long from the tip of its long tail to its snarling mouth. It couldn't be less than two hundred pounds. This was a very successful predator that never passed-up an easy opportunity, like this frightened mother and son. Muscles rippled beneath its tawny coat, claws kneading at the earth beneath its paws. Niklaus felt like it hadn't seen him yet. The beast's focus was entirely on the young woman.

Its large angular eyes, a sandy tone with flicks of green, glinted red and white interchangeably in the moonlight, only appearing whenever there was a clearing in the dense canopy above. The girl glanced from the beast to her baby and lunged for him. The beast burst into a run, closing in on the girl. The young woman leapt on top of her son, covering him entirely without crushing him. She ducked her head and Niklaus knew that she would die for her son.

Her wounded shoulder was trembling in agony. Niklaus erupted into a run, roaring as loudly as he could. The beast did not slow down and, just as it was about to pounce on Niklaus's doe, Niklaus collided with the suspended predator. The monster's roar hitched in its throat in the collision and whimpered as Niklaus pounded it into the ground. They tumbled a ways away from the mother and son and were flung apart.

The cat quickly bounced back to its paws while Niklaus was already on his feet, his arms held out by his side to fool the cat into believing he was bigger than it. He was surprised at how sharp his reflexes were. His skin felt like it was on fire. His brain seemed to be thumping against his skull, gorged with adrenalin and blood. The girl flipped her mane of dark curls away from her frightened eyes to see what had saved her.

She numbly straightened up, staring at Niklaus's back, revealing her sobbing son in the process. She blindly reached down with her long, dainty hand to hold her son's tiny fist.

Niklaus did not break eye contact with the beast but his yell was for her, "RUN!"

The beast flinched uncertainly at his baritone voice but continued to pace before Niklaus. The beauty scooped her child, now hiccupping his cries with exhaustion, and heaved herself to her feet. She tucked his head beneath her small chin, mouthed something to Niklaus's back, and disappeared into the underbrush.

"Kill _me_, ugly enemy!" Niklaus growled at the indecisive cat.

Niklaus dug his toes beneath the dry earth and, when the cat lunged at him unexpectedly, he kicked dirt straight into the beasts face. The predator roared in pain, tumbling to the ground and rubbing its eyes against the side of its disproportionately large paws. Niklaus scooped up a blunt rock, ran at the beast, and hurled the heavy stone down onto the cat's head. The cat flinched away with a high-pitched hiss. But, its movements were unsteady.

Niklaus climbed onto the beast's back and coiled his arms around its neck. It struggled hard but he yanked with all his might till the cat collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air and blinded by the earth in its eyes. Niklaus waited till the cat fell into unconsciousness before breaking the beast's neck with his hands. Its death was instantaneous and Niklaus crumbled down onto the dead animal. He managed to chuckle as he tried to even his breath.

He pushed himself upright on the beast's shoulders and punched the ground with his fist, blackened with dirt, and gave a battle cry to the forest at large. He didn't expect anyone to hear him but the grasshoppers and foxes.

"She's _mine_," he growled at the cat as he staggered back to his feet.

He stepped over the beast, wiping his hands together. Niklaus turned to look at the monster one last time. The girl approached him from behind with her son sleeping on her hip. She pushed her mane off her shoulders with her free hand and tucked a few strays behind her ears. She hesitated for a moment behind him before reaching up to touch his shoulder. She flinched at how quickly he spun around to face her.

Niklaus's heart had just begun to slow down. But, that was impossible now that she was standing before him. Her shoulder was still drenching in her blood, draining some of the olive tone in her skin.

She adjusted her son on her wide hip and said quietly, "_Защитени сте ми. Не знаете ми. Може да са били убити_!"

Niklaus licked his rather large lips and gave her a small apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I do not know your tongue. You don't know how much I want to."

The girl's son stirred, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Nicklaus's smile widened and she seemed pleased by his reaction. He turned his attention on to her battered shoulder of the arm that was not holding her son. He reached for it but hesitated, looking into her doe eyes for permission. She just stared at him and he took it as acceptance. She winced when his fingers touched her stinging cuts.

"You are hurt," he said quietly, gently stroking some of her blood away from the clawed cuts. "Please, come with me."

He took his hands off her shoulder and offered one for her to hold. She bounced her grumpy baby gently on her hip, only momentarily breaking eye contact with Niklaus's silver eyes to smile for her son. She hesitated then she smiled up at him, placing her palm against his and pressing her fingers against the back of his large hand. He gently squeezed it, his mouth gaped in disbelief that he was touching her.

As they found Niklaus's last tree mark before he saved her from the beast, she spoke again, "Името ми е _Tatia_." Niklaus glanced down at her and saw that she was pointing at herself, "Tah-tee-yuh."

He grinned and echoed her name, "Tatia, what a beautiful name. How fitting."

It was more beautiful than he had imagined. It definitely suited her. She glanced from the night sky alit with millions of glistening stars down to her son.

He tapped the knuckles of his free hand against his chest, "My name is Niklaus. Ni-klaus."

She frowned up at him and repeated his name, "_Nuh_-Klaus ... _Nih_-Klaus?"

She had pronounced the second syllable of his name perfectly. He chuckled down at her, "'_Klaus_' will do."


	5. Lips Like Raspberries

Niklaus knelt down to the sticky bank and slipped his hands beneath the gentle current, waiting till the dirt was stripped away from his skin. Tatia swayed beside him, her large dark eyes drooping, and she frowned at a new wave of pain. Niklaus's eyebrows slanted upward in sympathy and he gazed up at her from where he knelt. Tatia's mane was no longer in a braid now that he had a chance to notice. Her skin was draining of its radiant tawny tone, a bit lighter than the coat of the beast he had just stopped.

He shook his hands above the water and wiped them on the hem of his shirt as he heaved himself back to his feet. He held his hands out for the infant, "Here, you may drop him."

But, Tatia redoubled her weakening grip on her son. She nodded her head and shakily knelt to the ground with him still on her hip. Niklaus smirked, having already predicted that she would not easily accept his help. Perhaps it was too much to ask her to trust him with her son after saving them both from the enormous cat. He admired how smart she was to not drop her guard yet.

He admired her distrust and refused to let it insult him. Tatia's trembling hands unlatched her son's grip on her dress and sat him on her thighs. Niklaus sat back down on the ground beside her and hovered his hands over her battered shoulder. She gazed up at him, glanced at his big hands, then refocused her attention on her exhausted child. Niklaus pulled his hands back and writhed out of his shirt.

Tatia raised her eyebrows and furrowed them when Niklaus dipped one end of the bundled white fabric in the sluggish river.

He squeezed the drenched end of his balled-up shirt and hovered it over Tatia's wound, "I want to take you to Ayana. She is blessed with the gift of magic. She has more knowledge than I."

He pressed the dripping fabric against a slice in her skin and she whimpered. Niklaus hated the sound. Tatia lifted one hand off of her son and placed it on his hand gripping the cloth. She gently pushed his hand away and slid her fingers under one slice. She held her breath and then yanked. Tatia whimpered at the stinging pain ripping the strings attaching her sleeve to her torso caused.

Without thinking, Niklaus cupped her cheek with his cold hand, "_Shhh_, it's alright. Tatia, I'm going to take care of you. You will soon forget the feeling of fear and pain."

Her brown eyes were welling with tears, some had already dripped along her long black lashes.

"_Е майка сад_?" the little boy's tiny voice said.

What a good mother she really was. The boy could not be more than a year old and was already able to speak. Niklaus wished he could speak her language.

Tatia nodded her head down at him and stretched her trembling lips into a small smile, "_Не, майка е доволен_."

Niklaus did not know what they were saying to each other and had to suppress the frustration it caused. He gently tugged down Tatia's broken sleeve down her arm and freed her hand. He was about to toss it aside when Tatia snatched it from him. She gave it to her son, who held it against his fattened face. Niklaus tentatively placed his large hand on the boys head and stroked his soft, wavy brown hair.

Tatia tilted her chin up to Niklaus while gently squeezing her son's free fist, "_Името му е Тодор. _Toh-Door."

Niklaus grinned down at the boy, "Hello, Todor. You've been given a strong name. Fitting that you're her son. I am Klaus."

The boy gave him a blank stare, then curled up on his mother's lap, his large head resting on her concaved belly.

"You could return with me," Niklaus said as he resumed dabbing at Tatia's wound. "Would you? There is food and shelter. You must be starved. The woods is no place to raise a child."

Tatia was watching his eyes and Niklaus had the pleasurable feeling that she understood him.

She winced when he dabbed a little too hard in the deepest cut with his bundled-up shirt, "_Shhh_," he cooed gently, "they are deep. I need to clean them or they will get infected."

After a few moments, she licked her bloodied lips, "You ... hide," her voice was heavily accented; she scooted her bare foot in the mud and pointed at the print, "marks? You hide," she pointed at herself, "Tatia marks?"

Niklaus laughed in an exhale, "You can speak my tongue!"

Tatia shook her head and wiggled her long finger again at the print, "You destroy them? Cover them?"

He furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of her limited knowledge of words he knew, "'_Marks_'? Are you asking if it was I who covered your tracks one night ago?"

Tatia just stared at him. This must be what she was trying to ask. Klaus shook his head at her and she frowned up at him.

"I could not find boat," she pointed again at her exaggerated footprint, "This good guide. Todor no shelter."

Niklaus guessed that Tatia had been intending to use the boat as a roof for her and Todor. He felt guilty even though he had not made the tide sweep it away from her. But, he knew he would have done the right thing. He would have done it only to protect them. He had to decide between the elements and the settlers.

"If I or the night's current had not," he explained defensively. "You would have not been alone that night."

She batted her doe eyes up at his silver eyes, "Was I?"

Niklaus swallowed deeply and his high cheekbones flushed, "No. But, I wouldn't bring you any harm -"

"You are my savior," she said quietly, placing her hand on top of his which was now stroking Todor's little back. "You know me not and yet ... you saved us."

Niklaus thought of his father accusing him of being self-centered and oblivious. Vindication bubbled up his throat like hot lava.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head, "What an odd thing to do, am I wrong?"

Tatia furrowed her brow and gently lifted his head back up with her fingertips under his dented chin, "You are."

Tatia lifted her hand off of his and cupped his boney face. She explored him with her welling eyes. She tucked a lock of his blond hair behind his ear and stroked from his cheekbone down to his raspberry lips. Niklaus found his hand running along her spine and he inched closer to her. Their foreheads touched, their faces alit with familiarity and warmth.

Tatia's paled cheeks flushed with renewed color. Tatia ducked a little then his entire body went numb as her lips pressed against his.


	6. Confiding the Secret

Elijah was resting in the upturned dirt by his sister's shelter, the back of his head rolling weakly against the wood. His brother, Niklaus, had been abandoning his responsibilities at the clearing for four days now. Elijah never had a chance to confront him about the absences debilitating the expansion of the settlement. The only time he had to see his brother was when Niklaus was fast asleep across from him at night. A few people in his village had related complaints to Mikael about certain feminine possessions going missing.

Elijah was shocked that it was taking his father this long to connect Klaus with the vanishing items.

"Where is mother?" Rebekah asked him angrily.

Elijah flinched awake and squinted up at his blond sister, whose face was blocked by the glare of the sun, "Is she not with Aiyana?"

Rebekah whined, "No, _I_ was with her. My dresses keep being moved."

Elijah chuckled, "Well, I'm_ flattered_ that you think they would fit me, my sister. But, it was not I who took your clothes."

"Then why are you outside my chambers?" Rebekah asked suspiciously, glancing inside through the open window.

"I'm trying to find Niklaus. This is the best vantage point," explained Elijah while hiding a yawn behind his splintered hand. "Have you seen him?" He smiled and kindly joked, "He may have become invisible."

"Kol and Finn both _saw _him take seeds from the storage hole," said Rebekah as she knelt before Elijah in the dirt. The storage hole was where they hid away their dry foods. "He's not eating them himself, I know it, Elijah. He's thinner each passing day."

Elijah frowned and shielded his eyes from the sunlight, "He has become such a mystery."

* * *

Klaus ducked behind a bush, thinned by the relentless glare of the sun, as his father stalked past him. His silvery-blue eyes darted from Mikael's back and the path he would need to take to return to the village. It had been nearly a week since he had last lent his strength in the demolishing of this clearing. Despite his father's incessant insults, Klaus had shown on numerous occasions to be much stronger than him. He had not changed his clothes in nearly a week, not since the night he killed the villainous cougar.

His attire seemed to have increased in size and his face was more hallow than ever before. There were bruises cultivating beneath his eyes from lack of sleep. Klaus's ankles were straining weakly and he staggered where he had been crouched, his boney knees crunching the dead leaves hiding the stubborn earth.

"Stay behind that bush, Niklaus." sneered Mikael as he turned slowly the glower at the bramble. "Your cowardice never ceases to entertain me."

Klaus pursed his lips and rose to his feet, "I was unsure if it was you, father. You could have been one of the wolves."

Mikael sarcastically indicated the merciless light of the sun above them, "I don't see a full moon. Do you?" Klaus shook his head and focused his eyes on the ground between them, a silent submissive message. Mikael gripped Klaus's chin and made his son look up at him, "Where have you been?"

In truth, Klaus had been spending every moment he could risk with Tatia and her infant son. He had never expected being a caregiver to take so much out of him. The stress was eating away at his strength, his muscles were thinning.

"Answer me," Mikael squeezed Klaus's chin painfully.

Klaus grunted, "I can't tell you, father."

He knew it had been a mistake to give his father this explanation, or lack thereof. Mikael sneered and released Klaus, "If you are not here in one hour with the rest, I will hang you by your scrawny legs from the ancient white oak tree."

Klaus took this dismissal immediately and ran as fast as he could to the village.

* * *

Rebekah was concerned by how shallowly Klaus was breathing when he skidded to a halt before her. Elijah had left to check the animal traps about a half a mile west of the settlement, leaving her to mend her damaged basket.

"Where have you been?" Rebekah demanded as Klaus struggled to be steady. "Elijah waited for you all through the morning. Now the meat may have spoiled in this heat!"

Klaus was desperate. If he did not return to Tatia immediately, her and her son would surely grow infections from their filthy clothes. Without hesitating, Klaus said in a rush, "I-need-your-help."

Rebekah's angry expression melted away and she placed a comforting hand on each of his shoulders, "What's wrong, Niklaus?"

Tatia had been calling him 'Klaus' ever since they first spoke, it sounded strange to hear his proper name. Klaus shook his head, "_I'm_ alright. It's ... a girl."

Rebekah raised her eyebrows, "Is it Meredith? _I knew_ she fancied you -!"

Klaus frowned and stuttered, "Wha-? N-n-no, no, not _her_. _Never_ her. You don't know whom I've ... been leaving to see."

Now he had his sister's full interest, "There is another settlement? How have they remained undetected?"

Klaus slipped to the ground after shaking his head one more time, a hunger-headache settling in, "She is from Bulgaria. Her name is Tatia. She is not much older that you, she's ill, and she has a child. They need clothes. _New _clothes."

Rebekah tilted her head, "Are you asking me to lend a dress?"

Klaus hissed as his headache throbbed, "I am asking more. Will you take it to her for me?"


	7. Caught

Looking like a doe hiding with a fawn beneath the undergrowth, Tatia was fighting the temptation to fall asleep. Nursing her growing son took so much energy out of her. She was laying on her stomach beneath a tent of vines that were strangling an oak tree near the stream. Tatia had one breast exposed to which her infant was suckling. Todor was growing so quickly, he would have surely perished if Klaus had never come across them.

Just as her head was tilting closer to the forest floor, she heard something slosh across the gentle stream. Her long curly dark hair billowed around her as she rose up on all fours above her son. Tatia tucked her breast into the saggy fabric of her neckline and crept carefully over Todor. Though he was hardly a year old, he has learned already to be quiet when his mother is this wary.

"Tatia?" came a girl's voice. "Um ... _Не мога да ... _bring_ ... до нараняване или смърт_."

Rebekah cursed under her breath at how horribly she had repeated what Niklaus had instructed her to say to Tatia. Tatia lowered herself over her child and stayed as still as she could.

"I am Niklaus's sister," the girl explained while Tatia chanced peering through the branches. "I am called Rebekah. He said he told you of me."

After spending all these with Klaus, Tatia had become fluent in the common tongue. Although, it was still difficult for her to carry on a conversation. It was still easier for her to understand than to form replies. Klaus was always patient while teaching her and she couldn't help but feel that she was one of few privileged to it after all he has told her about his family. Tatia decided she couldn't remain hidden any longer.

"I am here," Tatia called out before Rebekah fully turned her back on her. The blond girl faced her and smiled begrudgingly when she noticed how filthy Tatia was. Tatia, however, was blinded by desperation, "I am Tatia."

Rebekah cautiously approached her, "You are from Bulgaria. A woman in my village, Ayana, speaks your tongue."

Tatia smiled and nodded feverishly, "My son needs clothing and food."

"It's nice to meet the girl who has been causing my dear brother so much distress," Rebekah smirked as she offered the light green dress to her. "How long have you been here?"

Tatia took the dress and mentally noted that it would be a bit too tight on her, "I ... know not. Many days."

Todor coughed behind Tatia and she immediately dropped to her knees to fish her son out from beneath the bush.

Rebekah knelt beside the young mother, "He is beautiful. You are a good mother."

She had misjudged what Niklaus had told her of Tatia. From all he could talk about her beauty, he hardly mentioned how she was killing herself for her baby. Tatia was beautiful, there was no doubt in her mind. But, she was wasting away while keeping her son alive with her milk.

Tentatively, Rebekah placed a hand on Tatia's shoulder, "Come. You can't stay here."

* * *

"What has my tempered brother so roiled?" Kol taunted as he encircled Klaus who was pacing at the center of the village.

Klaus hardly glanced at his younger brother, "Nothing."

"Come now," jeered Kol. "You're almost as bad as Elijah. He just goes on and on about this sweet female he saw by the creek. I have a feeling that _she_ is the one you've been sacrificing work to see."

Klaus grinded his teeth and wringed his hands, "I know not of whom you speak. Leave me be."

Kol spotted Henrik and Finn coming their way and sneered down at Klaus, "Sure, brother. I'll leave you to pounding the earth."

Kol jogged off to join his other two brothers and Klaus enviously watched them laugh about mundane things. Klaus swayed on the spot when he saw Rebekah returning to the village ... and the mother that was barely hiding behind his sister.

"_No_!" he gasped, running towards them. "How you dare - she can't be seen here!"

Tatia was now wearing the dress Rebekah had loaned her. It was an incredible feeling to be in clean clothes. Her heavy curled hair was unraveling from the bun Rebekah had bound at the top of Tatia's head. Until Klaus had run up to her with such haste, she had seemed calm. But, now she tucked her son's head beneath her chin and held him tight to her chest.

"Calm yourself. You're scaring her," Rebekah scolded him quietly.

Klaus turned on her and hissed, "What were you thinking? It's not safe for them here -"

"Funny, I could ask you the same." snapped Rebekah, her temper no different from her father's. "A baby needs shelter, brother. The woods are no safer than bringing her home."

"Father will have his way with her," Klaus said fearfully, pulling Tatia to his side. "If not kill her."

Rebekah suddenly was distracted and Klaus sighed. Almost every man and woman were now their spectators, staring at the newcomers. They were whispering about her, gossiping over how she had come to be here. Kol, Finn, and Henrik were approaching them. But, Klaus eye was caught by Elijah stepping out of their house.

Tatia looked at him from afar and recognized the handsome, dark-haired man as whom she had seen at the creek many days ago. He walked numbly towards them before breaking into a run. It took a moment for Klaus to realize that they were outside Ayana's home.

"Bring her in here," said the witch.

Without a moment of doubt, Klaus led his doe and her fawn into the safety of Ayana's home. Though the door may divide them from the crowd expanding outside, Klaus knew this was not over.


	8. Tatia's Tale

Klaus felt Elijah yank on his wrist, "I've seen her before!" Klaus was frowning up at his brother when Todor gave a wail, "Is she a mother? Where's her husband?"

Klaus tried to get his wrist out of his brother's grip, "I have not asked her about such personal matters yet. Ayana is tending to her wounds. She says that if it weren't for _me_ that Tatia would not have lasted much longer ... nor her son."

"_You_ ...," Elijah said as he tore his gaze from the house to look at Klaus, "_She_ is the reason you have been absent all these most inconvenient times? When father finds out-"

"You'd tell him?" Klaus asked him with a hint of aggression in his deep voice.

Elijah looked over his shoulder at Rebekah departing from Mikael, "I won't have to. I believe our dear sister just beat me to it."

Klaus gazed at where Elijah was looking and strode around his brother to grab his sister by her upper arms, "What did you tell him?"

Rebekah scoffed, "_I _told him that it 'twas _I_ who found Tatia and her infant."

Surprised, Klaus relinquished his sister, "What did he say about me?"

"Your name was not mentioned in my lie, brother." Rebekah said as she massaged her left bicep, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to return to our new arrivals. She is so mentally scarred by her past, Niklaus. From what Ayana told me, she has had a rough beginning."

Klaus and Elijah glared at each other after their sister reentered Ayana's quarters.

"Why didn't you tell me about her?" Elijah whispered to Klaus.

Klaus clenched his jaw muscle, "I've found through my life that fewer secret holders are more reliant than confiding in many."

* * *

Tatia winced when Ayana pressed a cloth dipped in alcohol against the wound on her shoulder. She smiled weakly when Rebekah returned. Todor was in Tatia's arms, fussing with her long curly hair which she did not mind as long as it kept him distracted. Nothing hurt her heart more than to hear him cry.

"Has she said more?" Rebekah asked the witch quietly.

Tatia cleared her groggy throat, "I understand common tongue. Klaus has taught me much."

Rebekah frowned at the name Tatia had used for Niklaus, "I apologize. But, if you'd feel more comfortable speaking in _your _tongue, I will not be offended."

Tatia rocked her son in her arms and shook her head at Rebekah before looking at Ayana, "My mamo did not want me gone. But, my bashta needed to regain the honor he blamed me for its loss. Four months past my ... m-my rape." Rebekah clapped her hand over her mouth then rushed across the room to sit beside Tatia. Tatia smiled at the hand Rebekah laid on her shoulder, "My fiance saw my belly growing and we had not consummated our marriage yet."

"He did not believe that a man forced himself inside me. He accused me of breaking our holy vow. My bashta threw me on ship immediately. I birthed my son at sea. I named him 'Todor'," Tatia's voice cracked as she started to sob. "He is a beautiful gift given to me after this hell."


	9. Welcomed Intrusion Pt I

Klaus was staring fixedly up at the ceiling in his home. Elijah was still asleep, but, his brother had never closed his eyes this night. His every sense was on high-alert, anticipating hearing Tatia scream for help. She was to stay with Rebekah and Esther, their mother, for the first night. Klaus was so distracted by his own paranoid scenarios of Tatia landing in trouble, that he did not notice their door creak open.

It was the early hours of the morning so it was still dark outside. Their little intruder was Todor, Tatia's infant son. He was wearing a beige shirt that ended at his ankles.

"Klausy!" The little boy padded over to Klaus and slapped Klaus's chest. "Klausy! Todor bad dream."

Klaus flinched in surprise at Todor's exclamation then he beamed up at the little boy, propping himself on his elbow and stroking the boy's back, "Todor, where's your _mamo_? Does she know you're -"

"_Todor_!" Tatia hissed as she peaked around the door that had been left ajar.

She was wearing the burgundy sleeping gown that Esther had sown for Rebekah but her daughter hated to wear it. It's warm crimson color complimented Tatia's tawny skin beautifully. Her rib-length curly dark hair was swinging her around her freely. Tatia's face had been washed of dirt and her hair had been combed. This made Klaus think of scenarios in which it would be very inappropriate for her son to be nearby.

"He asked too see you before bed," Tatia told Klaus in a whisper after noticing that Elijah was still asleep. "Todor must've woken to come see you. He thinks you're his ... _bashta_ now."

Klaus gave her a small smile while Todor flopped down at the foot of his bed, "What does his _mamo_ think of me?"

"She wishes you were," Tatia glanced away sadly.

Klaus sat up on his bed, keeping his blanket over his lap to hide the fact that he was not wearing pants, "This is a new home for him. He'll soon adjust."

Tatia smiled, "I take it that we are wanted here?"

Klaus cupped her cheek in his strong callused hand, "_Da_."

She crawled closer to him and laid her arms on his lap, stretching upward to his lips. Klaus craned his neck and parted his lips around hers, placing his free hand at the back of her head.


	10. Welcomed Intrusion Pt II

Tatia scooped her infant son up onto her hip and departed. Before she closed the door, she gazed over her shoulder down at Klaus. Todor waved at him and Tatia kissed his soft curls. She smiled at Klaus before carefully closing the door quietly behind her. Klaus exhaled as though he had been holding his breath the entire time she had been looking at him. Elijah remained undisturbed from his slumber.

Klaus observed his brother, listening to Todor giving his mother a little fuss about going to sleep in Rebekah's shelter. Tatia Petrova was so extraordinary to him. She came to this new land without a husband to provide for her nor their baby. It was a miracle that she survived the journey at all. It didn't matter to him that Todor was not his son by blood.

He felt an inexplicable attachment and responsibility to both of them. Klaus heaved himself to his bare feet and followed Tatia out of his shelter. He hesitated outside his sister's chambers and retreated when the door pushed outward suddenly. Tatia closed the door behind her and gazed upward at the bespectacled night sky.

Klaus gulped, "_Sdrawei_, Tatia."

Tatia gasped and turned to face him. She laid a hand over her heart, "Klaus, you frightened me."

Klaus smirked and apologized, "_Kak da se izvinya_."

"Very good!" Tatia giggled a little too loudly so Klaus pressed a finger to his lips. "Why are you out here, Klaus?"

"I missed you," Klaus said quietly, his deep voice warming her up in the night's chill, as he closed the distance between them. "Is that an acceptable reason?"

Tatia shook her head and gazed up into his greenish blue eyes, "_Da_."

They could feel each other's hot breath on their cheeks. Tatia ran her finger along his protruding collar bone, her dark eyes showing great interest. Klaus gently cupped her striking face in his boney hands and, after a moment of hesitation to increase the suspense, he kissed her. Tatia tilted her chin up and down, slipping her tongue and lips around his mouth. Klaus held her to his broad chest, his wavy blond hair mixing with her raven curls.

Tatia pulled away first, "Slow down, my friend. I come when I get excited."

Klaus chuckled, "We're '_friends_', are we?"

Tatia parted her swollen lips, "Not anymore."

She tugged Klaus by his hand around to the back of Rebekah's shelter and out to the woods they were encroaching. About thirty feet into the underbrush, Klaus could not see the village anymore. The only light for them were the twinkling starts above ... the moon was nearly full. They would need to take refuge in the underground caves to avoid a Wolf attack. Tatia skidded to a halt and shoved her breasts against his chest.

They kissed hungrily and she fumbled with unbuttoning his transparent sleeping attire.

"I have misjudged you, Tatia Petrova." Klaus panted breathlessly in her ear, "This is a side I never dreamed you'd have."

Tatia kissed him, "I have _many_ sides, Klaus. Many. In time, you'll know them all."

Klaus knelt before her, pulling her red dress down to her ankles while taking care not to tear it. Tatia stepped out of her dress, crumbled dismally on the leafy forest floor. Klaus slowly rose to his feet, admiring how the moon above cast a complementary shadow on Tatia's naked body. Tatia giggled, tucking a curtain of long, curly, dark hair behind her ear while the other draped over her shoulder, ending at her wide hips. Klaus grasped her shoulders and ran his hands down to her knees, kneeling again as he went.

Tatia asked, "What are you doing?"

"I've never seen a naked woman before," Klaus admitted as his eyes adjusted more to the darkness.

What he had said seemed to surprise Tatia as much as it pleased her. He could see better in the dark than anyone in the village. Klaus stood before her again and she coiled her arms around his shoulders. As they kissed, he sank down to the forest floor with her beneath him. Tatia clenched her teeth when Klaus entered her.

Klaus immediately began to buck into her so she wrapped her long legs around his middle. He grunted with each thrust, squeezing his hooded eyes shut. Tatia watched him bob forward and back ... she forced a smile. It seemed as though she was feeling a bit disappointed in Klaus's performance. She only gasped when their eyes locked once again.

Klaus came inside of her, "_Argh _... are you alright?"

Tatia pursed her lips, "Get off. I'm going to turn over." Klaus frowned as he rolled off of her and she twisted to lay on her belly, "_This_ is what I know."

Klaus shook his head and gently helped her sit on the forest floor with him, "I want to look upon your face tonight ... and every night to come."

Tatia tilted her head and beamed up at him, "You are different, Klaus." Klaus gulped nervously and she smiled genuinely, "'Different' is good."

Klaus sighed and grinned down at her, "_Mnogo_."


	11. Rebekah's Tale

Three days later, Rebekah was to be found spying on her brother, Niklaus, with his hand entwined in the newcomer's, Tatia. Over the few days of sharing her chambers with the Bulgarian, the young mother's aura has brewed from frightened stowaway to the domineering alpha rearing behind those dark and heavily-lashed eyes. Rebekah withdrew her head when Niklaus glanced in her direction.

"Bekah!" Niklaus called out in a sing-song voice. "Come on out and join us."

She hesitated, thinking of her last encounter with Tatia ... and Elijah.

_Two days ago, Rebekah was walking past the back of Klaus and Elijah's house when she heard a sharp gasp. She hovered where she had stopped in her tracks. Rebekah peered through a tiny gap in the wooden wall and her blue eyes widened. There was Tatia closing the door, her hip-length curly dark hair hanging loose and her olive skin freshly washed. She was in a long-sleeved, oat colored dress ... one of Rebekah's dresses. She was infuriated that the girl had the nerve to take advantage of Rebekah's hospitality and steal a dress._

_Rebekah smirked, remembering that dress's hem was unfinished. That smirk quickly resumed to a frown when she noticed that Tatia's curvy figure was stretching the dress. Making a mental note to confront Tatia about this indiscretion later, she pressed her ear to the rough wood._

_Tatia laughed quietly, humorlessly, __"I should have made myself known. But, that would be too forward -"_

_Elijah was holding his pants high above his navel, evidently having been interrupted while changing into a clean set of clothes, __"What are you doing here? You can't be here."_

_Tatia swaggered towards him,__"Oh, Elijah. So innocent, so ... moral. I advise you to lessen your restraint. I have done so long, long ago -"_

_Elijah clenched his teeth, though his high cheekbones were flushing,__"Tatia, Niklaus will not take kindly to us being alone -"_

_"I need not his consent to spend time with whom I so choose, Elijah."__ Tatia was now no more than a foot away from his bare chest,__"I missed you and ... I've been thinking about you."_

_Elijah lowered the waistband of his pants in surprise,__"I thought ... I thought you had forgotten me."_

_Tatia smiled up at him and shook her head, __"How could I? I dream about the day I saw you across the stream ... every night. Every night, Elijah." __Elijah staggered backwards, retreating from her out of loyalty to his brother ... which Rebekah could tell was progressively waning as Tatia toyed with the skirt of the dress, __"Don't be frightened."_

_"I-I'm n-not," __Elijah stuttered, though he still backed away from her. _

_Tatia suddenly pinned him to the wall almost out of Rebekah's field of vision, __"Stop then!"_

_Tatia blinked slowly and deliberately up at him while his breathing evened. Elijah sighed, __"Such beauty ... eradicating all others -" _

_Tatia moaned quietly,__ "Don't waste this chance ... my Elijah." _

_Rebekah clapped her hand over her mouth when Elijah suddenly cupped Tatia's face in his filthy hands, his pants falling to his ankles, and kissed her so passionately on her lips. Tatia grinned against his lips triumphantly and twisted around so that her back was against the wall instead. Rebekah closed her eyes when her brother lifted Tatia onto his hips and she winced at the creaking of the weak walls they were relying on for support. Suddenly, Tatia looked directly into Rebekah's eyes. Rebekah inhaled sharply and turned her back on them, running away when the Bulgarian gasped as Elijah entered her ..._

"I have to warn Niklaus," Rebekah told herself before stepping out from her hiding spot.

Tatia smiled at her thoughtfully, yet, it was somehow also unkind. Niklaus lowered his head to listen to what Tatia was whispering up to him and Rebekah's cheeks flushed when he chuckled, worrying that they were gossiping about her. Tatia was no longer wearing the oat colored dress. She was back in the green dress Rebekah had given to her the day she brought the young mother and Todor to the village. Niklaus frowned down at her, noticing Rebekah's reluctant and hostile look she was giving Tatia.

Before he could question it, Rebekah turned to him, "May I have my brother for a moment, Tatia?"

Tatia tilted her chin upward a little and her large beautifully lashed eyes squinted ever so slightly up at her, "Of course you may. Conveniently, I must go nurse my son at this hour. Goodbye, Klaus."

Rebekah looked at her shoes pointedly while Tatia kissed Niklaus before departing. Tatia was the only one in the settlement who called Niklaus 'Klaus'. She regretted watching the girl leave, for their eyes met and Rebekah felt her stomach churn.

Niklaus was smiling at her retreating figure, "She's an astounding woman, isn't she?"

Rebekah cleared her throat, "She is whom I've come to discuss with you, Niklaus."

Niklaus frowned and turned to her, "Is this about your dress? Tatia told me how sorry she was for borrowing it without your permission. She has so few possessions, Rebekah. Surely, you can forgive her. Now, she did get it dirty so she is to wash it and return it -"

Rebekah thought to herself wryly, _Indeed she has dirtied my dress_.

Thinking of what that dress had gone through, Rebekah interrupted Niklaus, "No, it's not about the dress, but, she can keep it. Please, listen and don't interrupt." Niklaus chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to continue. Rebekah looked up into those green eyes of her closest sibling and took a deep breath, "I believe that she is not the victim she says to be, my brother. I believe that she is a liar -"

Niklaus raised his eyebrows and clenched his teeth once, "What evidence do you have, little sister? Tatia has Todor for proof. What have you?"

Rebekah could feel her eyes welling with tears, "So, it is her word against mine, your own family?"

Niklaus pursed his lips and unfolded his arms as he passed her, "I'm afraid so."

Rebekah watched him leave, a stray tear dripping down her cheek at the thought of how devastated Niklaus will be once he finds out about what Tatia did, knowingly and eagerly, with his own brother.


	12. Twisted

Rebekah was at a loss as to what to do next. If Klaus needed proof, she knew that she wouldn't have to search very hard. The journey to her bedroom was on her own, but, inside was a less than welcome guest. There sat Tatia on her cot, nursing her infant son. Rebekah hesitated, feeling her cheeks heat. Before she could retreat, Tatia looked up.

"_Rebekah_," she cooed with that charismatic accent of hers, "don't leave. I could see that you had something to tell me when you were spying on Klaus and I."

At the mention of her brother, Rebekah clenched her teeth, "I will no longer endure sharing my home with you if you continue to torment my brothers -"

Tatia rocked forward and back, patting her son when he coughed against her chest, "I beg your pardon, Rebekah. Neither of them have complained."

"They would if they knew," Rebekah sneered. "But, you wouldn't want that, would you? Then you'd have no one. Then your helplessness will be brought into question. Your whole story would come crumbling down -"

"I want us to be friends, Rebekah. Sisters," said Tatia, completely nonplused by Rebekah's threats. "There's nothing for Elijah or Klaus to 'know'. Now, if you don't mind, I need privacy. My son is hungry."

"I do not make friends with those who hurt my family," Rebekah shook her head, "and I've seen all there is to see of you."

Tatia giggled, "Did it shock you? You and I are not so different, _moyat priyatel_," she giggled again at the obvious indication that Rebekah had yet to learn any Bulgarian terms. "Klaus has told me of your nights with the men by the creek. He told me stories of you worming your way out to parade yourself before their eyes. Men don't want a tease, Rebekah. They want a _challenge _... and you're too easy."

Rebekah's mouth dropped open, "I am not a -!"

Tatia kissed Todor's forehead when he started to fuss, "Shh, my baby boy. Don't believe me to be such an ungracious guest. I am to clean your dress -"

Rebekah scoffed, "If you honestly believe that I'd want it back, you're even more twisted than I thought."

Tatia set her son down on the cot and staggered to her feet, walking away as her son started to wail, "You think that I survived my journey across the sea, _pregnant_, on luck's whim? Wrong. I am stronger than you think."

Rebekah locked her eyes onto Tatia's and shook her head slowly, "No, not 'strong'. You have no heart. You are monstrous."

"Be careful whom you call a monster, Rebekah." Tatia smirked and returned to her son. When Rebekah hesitated awkwardly where she had been left, Tatia sighed, "I am sorry for what I've done. As I have said, I want us to be friends. I can help you with the men by the river. And I am only trying to test the best father for my son, you see. After my ... 'trials', I can almost say with certainty that the man who saw me first is more ... qualified." Rebekah curled her lip and, just before she left, Tatia's smirk grew, "If you're planning to go to the river tonight ... I can be of great service. It is the least I can do to apologize. As you have learned ... I _know_ men."

Trying not to be swayed by Tatia's tempting offer, trying not to wonder which of her brothers saw the harlot first, Rebekah left her room without bothering to shut the door ... seeing as Tatia didn't seem to mind who saw her most private parts.


End file.
